Conditioning critical for UO

The Oregon Ducks are proving to be quite a third-quarter football team.

Oregon has hit its stride in the third quarter of this season, and has been no better of late than in the first 15 minutes after halftime. The Ducks outscored then-No. 4 USC 17-3 in the third quarter of Saturday’s 47-20 win over the Trojans, giving Oregon a 59-10 edge over its last three opponents in the period.

That wasn’t always the case this season. Oregon was outscored by both Utah and Washington State in the third quarter of those UO wins. But as the season wears on, opponents seem to be wearing down after halftime, while the Ducks are not.

“We feel we’re the best-conditioned team every time we go out there. … How we practice and the pace of our practice allows us to really play at a high tempo on Saturdays.”

After running away from the Trojans in the second half Saturday, the Ducks (7-1 overall, 5-0 Pac-10) moved up two spots to No. 8 in the BCS standings released Sunday. Oregon is seventh in the AP poll of media, and eighth in the coaches’ and Harris polls used by the BCS.

In each case Oregon is the top one-loss team, behind the seven remaining unbeatens, with the exception of the AP poll, in which the Ducks are ahead of Iowa. The Ducks are behind the only team to beat them, Boise State, except in the average of the computer polls used by the BCS, in which Oregon is seventh and Boise State is eighth.

Just how good are the Ducks, who will face Stanford at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in Stanford Stadium?

“Not as good as everyone says we are,” safety T.J. Ward said. “We’re just taking it one game at a time. … That’s all we do. A couple of weeks ago they had written us off. We’re not as good or as bad as anybody says we are. We just play.”

“Not good enough, not yet,” cornerback Talmadge Jackson added. “We’ll see at the end of the year. We’ve still got to keep working and getting better each week.” Click here for the complete story.